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The Port City Daily in Wilmington joined Sierrans, members of the Cape Fear River Watch, and Wilmington Water Tours on a boat trip to Duke Energy's Sutton Plant on the Cape Fear River.

Participants of the boat tour heard from many guests about the problems posed by the coal ash ponds that store the by-product of the more than 50 years of coal burning at the plant.

As reported by the Port City Daily, Chair of the local Sierra Club group offered the following comments to boat tour riders:

“We wanted to get the word out and make sure the public is aware of this issue—the concern about coal ash ponds and their potential hazard and the need for cleaning them up,” said Beck, who worked 35 years with the North Carolina Division of Water Quality, retiring as this area’s regional supervisor.

“It’s exciting that Duke Energy is getting away from the use of coal and moving toward a cleaner energy, but it still leaves these ash ponds in place with currently no plan in place to remove them and clean them up,” Beck said.

“So we want to get the word out and encourage the public to put pressure on both politicians and the energy company directly that we want to see a plan in place, and also to have the public involved in developing that plan, so that it’s effective and meets the needs of the public,” he said.

For the full story on the boat trip, including questions about what will happen to the toxic chemicals currently contained in an unlined hole along Sutton Lake, read the full story at portcitydaily.com.